John the Demon Slayer Book 1
by Warlic Elfire
Summary: We all know about the adventure's of the Windy City's hero, the only wizard in the phonebook, Harry Dresden. But what about the rest of the world? What other heroes are there in other parts of the world? This is the story of John the Demon Slayer, a hero with a very unique origin, and his young protege, a young nerd by the name of Jonathan.
1. Chapter 1

John the Demon Slayer

Book 1  
Part 1

I stood on my balcony overlooking the Strip, watching the lights turn on one by one as the sun fell behind the mountains. I looked at the Strip, with it's bright, inviting lights, a gilded façade hiding the darkness and blight that give Las Vegas the nickname of "Sin City". The city thrives on wickedness and immorality. And worst of all are the creatures behind it. For it is not humans that control and dominate the darkness of the world. There is a whole world of magic, of monsters, and of men hidden from the rest of the world. A world filled with wizards, faeries, vampires, and demons. All sorts of nasties thrive in the darkness of our world, and it is my job to fight them. I am the protector of the innocent, the guardian of mankind, the destroyer of shadows. My name is John. John the Demon Slayer.

Hello! I'm Jonathan, John's erstwhile apprentice. I don't know what story he was going to tell you, probably one of the times he marched into heck (I don't like saying the real name) and took on all the demon hordes. Or, it might have been one of the thirteen and a half times he saved the world. (Don't ask about the half, that one was just embarrasing.) But instead of listening to that, I will tell you about the time that me and John first encountered each other. Back before I knew anything of the secret world.  
The dreams started when I was very little. I started seeing things in my dreams, and they would happen in real life. Sometimes it would happen the next day, and sometimes it would happen a few months later. For a while, sometime after my thirteenth birthday the dreams stopped. After a while, I began to think I was rid of them. But then, after the night of my fifteenth birthday, they returned with a vengeance. Every night I saw myself in the strangest of situations, but the most amazing part was not where I was or what others were doing, but what I was doing. In the dreams, I did things. Impossible things. At first I thought they were just dreams, but all that changed on the night of my sixteenth birthday.

As you can tell, I'm not the average person. I am a good six foot three in height, and rather thin. I have pale skin, my eyes are a bright blue, with golden rings in the center, and my hair is a golden blonde. I've been told that if I wasn't so skinny I'd be handsome. But my best trait is my intelligence and creativity. I'm the top of my class, and have written many amazing short stories and am working on a novel. But that doesn't have anything to do with this story. My birthday is on the thirteenth of october, and that year it happened to fall on a friday. My party lasted till midnight, and it was loads of fun. After my party I couldn't sleep, so I went out on a walk. In retrospect, walking around after the witching hour on friday the thirteenth was a pretty dumb idea, but what can I say? I'm a teenager!  
I walked down the street, staring at the moon. I heard rustling in the bushes ahead of me, and crept toward them, not wanting to startle whatever was in there. I neared the bushes, but as I was about to jump at whatever was in in there, it jumped at me.  
I flew backwards as the creature leapt at me. It was hideous, looking like some demented child of a giant bat, bigfoot, and a vat of toxic sludge. It was vaguely humanoid, about the size of a grown man, but the similarities ended there. Its body covered in leathery black skin, and the legs were bent backwards, like a goat, with long talons on its feet. Its arms were devoid of any substance, just skin and bones with frail wing membranes and long, razor-sharp claws. While most of the creature's body was cadaverous, its stomach bulged out grotesquely, as if filled with a vast amount of some liquid. Its face was reminiscent of a bat, with long ears, a flat nose, large, black, beady eyes, a long tongue dripping saliva, and long fangs, which were very visible as it opened its mouth more than should be possible, as the creature leaned in toward me.  
I squirmed as much as I could, but despite being even thinner than me, (way thinner) it was immensely strong, and I could not break its hold. The creature seemed to be enjoying it, languishing in my helplessness. Just as its fangs were about to pierce my throat, I gave one last effort, putting all my strength, mental, physical, and spiritual, into breaking out. All of my energy came out at once, and the creature went flying twenty feet into a wall, demolishing it. Okay, I may not be the weakest person, but there is no way I could do that! I started to feel woozy, and as I rubbed my neck, I felt a coating of some liquid, and I remembered the creature's saliva. I begun to get dizzy, and a good feeling went through my body. What happened next was a blur, but this is what I think happened. The creature leapt out of the wreckage, reaching to tear my throat out. Bit at the time, that seemed just fine. I was feeling so good, why shouldn't I just let it rip my throat out? What's so wrong with that?  
Just as it was going to tear me to shreds, a blast of painfully bright light struck the creature head on, disintegrating it on the spot. I frowned to myself, wondering what had happened. We were just about to enjoy ourselves. I looked over where the light had come from, and I saw him. He was nearly seven feet tall, with lightly tanned skin, dark hair, dark sunglasses covering his eyes, and a long black trench coat flapping in he breeze. He gripped a pure white staff nearly as tall as he was, its tip glowing with that same brilliant light.  
"Are you alright?" he asked.  
"You look funny," I stated.  
He examined my neck. "It got him with its saliva," he cursed under his breath.  
"What's you're name? What was that? What are you talking about? Why do you dress so funny?" I asked in a rush, giggling.  
"You were attacked by a vampire of the Red Court," he responded. "Their saliva is narcotic, and is the reason for your euphoria and, for lack of a better word, loopyness."  
I shook my finger at him. " You didn't answer who you are or why you dress funny. That's very naughty."  
"I do not dress funny!" he said angrily.  
"What's your name?" I singsonged woozily.  
"Fine," he muttered. "My name is John. John the Demon Slayer.


	2. Chapter 2

John the Demon Slayer  
Book 1  
Part 2

I was in a dark room, so dark that I couldn't see the back of my hand. "A little light?" I asked, through no effort of my own. I had no control, almost as if I was just an observer. Suddenly, a bright light appeared, and the man who saved me, I think his name was John, (ironic that our names are so similar) was holding up his staff, the tip of which the light came from.  
"Let's go," he said firmly. I followed him into another chamber, and suddenly, we were surrounded by vampires of the Red variety, though they didn't seem to want to go anywhere near the light.  
"Well well well," came a booming voice from the far side of the room, where a giant, hideous horned man stood, unfurling wings of blackest night. "The great Demon Slayer, caught in my trap!" he proclaimed, sending the Reds into a fit of grotesque laughter. "Now, Demon Slayer," He growled, "by the hand of Azariel, greatest of demons, you fall!"  
I suddenly woke up, head reeling with a killer headache. I've never drank alcohol before, but as I sat up and rubbed my head I decided that this must be was what a hangover felt like, and that I really didn't like it. I looked around, and I saw I was in a good-sized bedroom with a queen sized bed. The walls where white, as were the furnishings. Just then, John came into the room, ducking as he came through the door, carrying a plate with bacon, eggs, orange juice, and best of all, aspirin. Now that I wasn't in a hallucinatory state, I saw he was much taller than he had looked before, maybe seven five or even seven six! He also was wearing a black t-shirt and black sweatpants under the trench coat. He kind of looked a little bit like Nick Fury from the Avengers, except of course that he was white, taller, and had hair and both eyes.  
"You are an angel sent from heaven!" I exclaimed as I downed the aspirin and started on the food.  
"You have no idea..." he muttered, chuckling.  
"So what was that thing last night?" I asked quizzically.  
"That was a Red Court vampire, something I hope you never have to see again," replied John.  
"Red Court?" I questioned. "That means there must be other kinds! What other kinds of vampires are there?"  
"None that you will ever meet," replied John curtly. "Later today you will leave here and forget all of this happened. You will forget about me, you will forget about the vampire, you will forget about everything and live a normal life. Trust me, you don't want this."  
"What!" I exclaimed. "I'm a part of this now! I saw this happen in my dreams! Did you see how I sent him smashing into the wall? That wasn't normal! I'm not normal! You have to let me help you."  
"Kid," he sighed, "this may seem all cool and glamorous, but it's not. A life of fighting demons and the undead is no life for a kid. It's hard, painful work, and the monsters with strike at everyone and everything you care about. By the time they kill you, you will gladly embrace death. You don't want that kind of life."  
"At least teach me!" I pleaded. "I threw that thing into a wall, and the wall crumbled! I don't know about you, but I don't have that kind of strength!"  
"It was probably just a massive amount of adrenaline," he replied.  
"And I have dreams! Impossible dreams, dreams that just days later come true! Is that normal?"  
"And what do you want me to do?" he asked. "I'm a fighter, not a teacher."  
"You have powers, don't you?" I asked.  
"Yes..." he answered, suspicious of the sudden question.  
"Then teach me how you learned to use your abilities! Teach me what you've learned in all your years of experience."  
He thought that over. "If I teach you, you have to vow to never follow me on a hunt."  
"Until I am ready, of course," I said triumphantly.  
"Of course," he growled.  
"So," I began, "what's our first lesson?"  
"Our first lesson is going home," he replied sternly.  
"What?"  
"We are going back to your house and telling your parents I found you after you were mugged. When the muggers found no money on you they left you on the sidewalk, unconscious. I then took you to a hospital, where you stayed overnight. One of the most important things about knowing about the supernatural is keeping your loved ones in the dark. The more you know, the more attention you get. Therefore, the less they know, the safer they are."  
And so John became my tutor, helping my with schoolwork, teaching me how to control my abilities, and teaching me about the world of the supernatural. Everyday after school I would go to his house for "study sessions".  
And might I add, this little kid was quite a pain in the neck.  
John! This is my story! And I'm not anywhere close to little!  
You interrupted my story, so I can interrupt yours. And compared to me, you are little.  
Whatever. Just let me get back to the story.  
Of course I was itching to tell someone about John and what had happened, but I was faced with two problems: John had made me promise to keep it a secret, and, of course, the fact that no one would believe me if I told them. There was only one person I could think of that might work. As you know, nerds are known for having few friends. But those few friends are true, and you can always count on them for anything. That friend was Rylan. Have you ever watched The Suite Life of Zack and Cody? Well, Rylan was the Zack to my Cody. We weren't related, but we are are both tall, blonde, and extremely white, enough that some confuse us for brothers or cousins. Rylan is different from me in three big ways- he's athletic, he doesn't do well in school, and he lacks imagination, which I am overfilling with.  
Rylan was on the track team, and he was fast. Not escape from the bullies fast, but escape from the stampeding bulls fast. He was only a sophomore, but he was the track star, the star JV basketball player, and the JV football team's quarterback. And I almost forgot, he's also really good with people. He was elected freshman class president last year as well as sophomore class president. Hey, every nerd needs at least one popular friend.  
I believed he was the one to tell for a big reason: even though his limited imagination made him a bit of a sceptic, he wasn't the kind to ignore something he'd seen with his own eyes. So all I had to do was show him what i could do. Easy, right? Wrong. Just as I was going to the Gym, where he was just finishing up basketball, practice, a couple of he more unpleasant members of the basketball team showed up. You know how in the movies there is this one group of bullies who pick on this one nerd or group of nerds? Well, in real life it wasn't usually like that. Usually it was all the bullies picking on all the nerds, just different nerds at different times.  
"Hey, Gay boy!" Bully number one, a particularly grotesque specimen shouted. "Here to see your boyfriend?" Bully number two, a exceedingly brutish specimen, added.  
"Knock it off," I growled, clenching my hands into fists. In the movies, the nerds always seemed to be on a first name basis with the bullies, but I couldn't care less what their names were. I couldn't stand any of them. But just as I was walking away, one of them threw a rock a my head. A rock!  
"Hey! Gay boy!" shouted bully number one. "I was talking to you!"  
What I did next may not have been he most appropriate response, but getting hit in the head with a freaking rock HURTS! So I gathered, my will, whispered a word, and Pushed. Now, I was a good twenty feet away from them at the time, so when I say Pushed I don't mean pushed, I mean Pushed. Bullies number one and two went flying into a wall, knocking them senseless. When they regained their senses, they looked at with fear and horror.  
"What the heck are you!" bully number one shouted as they both ran away.  
Suddenly exhausted, I leaned on a wall for support. I looked around at my surroundings, and saw Rylan staring at me. "I was coming to tell you," I told him. "I kind of got magical powers."  
Rylan then ran up to me faster than the eye could follow. "I have my own confession to make," he said. "I've kind of been holding back in sports. A lot."  
I gave him a long look. "We have some things to discuss."


	3. Chapter 3

John the Demon Slayer  
Book 1  
Part 3

"Okay, spill it," came the words out of my mouth as soon as we got into Rylan's car. I would have my own car, but I took the permit test late so I still only had my permit. Rylan was a few months older than me, so he already had his own car and license.  
"You revealed your abilities first, you tell your story first," he replied.  
"I asked first, so that means you need to tell first," I shot back.  
"My story requires a demonstration, andI'm driving," returned Rylan.  
"Fine," I muttered. "This is childish anyway." And so I told him about the vampire, about John, and about my newfound abilities. By the time I was done, we were in front of my house. He turned the car off as he studied me.  
"So," he started, " these powers just came out of the blue?"  
"Not really," I answered. "I've been having dreams about them for almost a year."  
"You can see the future?" he asked  
"Yes..." I responded suspiciously, expecting him to do something ridiculous like suggesting to use my powers at the poker tables.  
"What am I going to do next?" he asked with a grin.  
"It doesn't work like that," I laughed. "It's just my dreams. Now its your turn. What's your story?"

"It all started two summers ago, not long after you moved into the neighborhood," he began. "I was training for the Cannerelli Middle School Basketball Team. After doing lots of running in the hot sun, I passed out on the grass. I guess I was just lucky I was right on top of the lawn of someone with enough money to waste on water foe grass in this desert."  
I tried to look anywhere but my lawn, as it had a fresh covering of grass.  
"After I past out," Rylan continued, "I found myself in some weird, Greek-looking place, with lots of white marble and people in togas, gladiator gear, and Roman military uniforms. The weirdest thing was, in front of all of these ancient-looking buildings were those old mailboxes with the little flag thing. And among all these Greek/Roman people was a middle-aged man in a old mailman's outfit, pulling endless letters and packages out of a small sack, and many of the packages seemed too big to fit in the sack. He saw me gawking and turned towards me. Suddenly he was directly in front of me. 'I'd guess that you're quite confused right about now,' he said to me."  
"'Extremely,' I replied."  
"'My brothers and sisters never could keep track with the times,' he sighed. 'Even I seem to be a little behind. That is why I need you.'"  
"'I don't understand,' I said, flabbergasted."  
"'I wouldn't expect you to,' he said. 'Come, jog with me.'"  
"And suddenly he was in a jogger's outfit. We started jogging down the road."  
"'People like me,' he started, 'need something to tether them to your world. Most of us have kids for that connection, but my last child died some time ago, and since I didn't have another child while he was alive it will be quite difficult to come back and have another, so opted for the easy, if somewhat risky route.'"  
"'I don't understand,' I said."  
"'Don't worry,' he answered with a smile. 'Take this. It will be your guide,' he said, giving me a ballpoint pen. Suddenly he was in basketball clothes and he ran off to a basketball court that had just appeared. When I went after him, I woke up."

"So, what, do you click the pen and it turns into a magical sword?" I asked.  
"Don't be ridiculous, this isn't Percy Jackson," he laughed, getting out of the car. He took out a ballpoint pen and clicked it, transforming it into a meter-long rod with two snakes wrapped around it. "It turns into a magical rod and snakes!"  
"Wow!" I exclaimed, my nerdy side taking over. "Hermes gave you his caduceus!?"  
"I have no idea what you just said but I think the answer is yes," he answered. "These are George and Susan, well, those are the nicknames I gave them at least. Their real names are some strange ancient greek stuff that I could never remember. They know all sorts of stuff about magic and the supernatural. They are my mobile dictionary and encyclopedia of the supernatural."  
"So what can you do besides run?" I asked. "I can see the future and move things with my will, and you run fast."  
"It's not just running," he replied. "All of my athletic capabilities are at their peak, but since I was always good at running, my peak for running was somewhat higher than the rest."  
"That does make since," I considered. "After all, Hermes is the god of athletics."  
"He prefers Mercury," chimed in George. I jumped a bit in surprise when he said this. (Alright, I think talking snakes are creepy, so sue me.)  
"How could I have missed my best friend having magical powers?" I wondered. "You have to meet John. He's amazing."  
So we took the car over to John's house, a large three story house in the middle of the desert. John's house was the kind you wished you had, complete with a turret. As we walked through the door, I saw John working in his small garden, filled with fruit trees and berry bushes. Looking at him in his black trench coat and sunglasses, I realised that I'd never seen him without them. He was always wearing his sunglasses and trench oat, no matter what he was doing, and they never seemed to get dirty. I imagined an entire closet filled with trench coats.  
"You didn't tell me he was a giant!" whispered Rylan. "He's got to be the tallest man alive!"  
"You're late," said John, not looking up. "And you are well aware of my policy against bringing people into my house."  
"He's not a monster," I laughed. "But he is magical! Rylan, show John!"  
John turned to look at Rylan, and though i couldn't see his eyes, I was certain they where wide with shock. "What have you done!" he shouted, jumping to his feet. "Bringing the champion of a pagan deity into my home!"  
"What's the issue?" I asked, shocked at his reaction. "He gets cool powers from a guy in a mailman outfit and you freak out?"  
No longer shocked, now John was just irritated. "Am I the only one who reads the Bible these days?" he asked, looking at the sky. "Mercury is a pagan deity," he began, "and pagan deities are not truly divine beings. They are powerful magical beings that gain power from their worshipers. Like all magical creatures, even the nicest of them cannot be called 'good'. They always have ulterior motives for everything they do. By accepting the power of Mercury, your friend over here has given away some portion of his free will, and as such, his patron can exercise some control over him. You must remember, while Mercury is the god of athletes and messengers, he is also the god of thieves. He cannot be trusted. We wouldn't be in this mess if you had done what the Bible says and staid away from these things altogether."  
"I don't see the problem," said Rylan. "I haven't been forced to do anything I didn't want to. I've just gotten better at sports. And how did you know just by looking at me?"  
"A servant of the true God can always recognize the servant of a false one," replied John, obviously thinking of a way to fix this, even though I still didn't see anything that needed fixing.

That's your problem, Jonathan, you're far too naïve.

My story! Anyway, I was curious at what John just said. "What do you mean?" I asked. "I just realised you've never told me your origin story."  
"Origin story?" he asked. "You make it sound like we're all superheroes or something. Might as well tell you though, as this guy's boss already knows," he said, pointing at Rylan. "Either of you ever here about the Nephilim?"  
"Nope," said Rylan.  
"Of course," I replied. "They were the children of the sons of god and daughters of men. One of the most common beliefs is that they were the descendants of Seth, the third son of Adam and Eve, and the descendants of Cain, or the righteous and unrighteous groups. The other is that they were angels and human women."  
"You've done your homework," John said, impressed. "Both happened. But true Nephilim were the children of angels and mortals. Many assume that fallen angels came, had sex, and there were Nephilim. But in the Bible it says they 'made marriages with them' not had sex with them. Angels are perfected humans, not completely different beings. Sometimes one is not born in he same time period as their soulmate, so they come as an angel, and they marry and have children. Unfortunately, the angel can never stay long and must return to heaven. There are of course, times when a fallen angel takes over a human's body and has children, but that's completely different. Also, Nephilim have a reputation for evil, one earned by the children of fallen angels who follow in their parent's footsteps."  
"What's with the history lesson?" asks Rylan, obviously bored.  
"I," began John. "Am one of the true Nephilim. My mother was an angel, which is the reason why I am so short."  
"Short!?" exclaimed Rylan. "You're titanic!"  
"For a Nephilim, I am short," John stated. "Goliath was over nine feet tall, and he was a second generation Nephilim."  
"Wow," Rylan and I said in unison.  
"Yah," he said, right before his pants started belting out star wars. "Yes?" he said into the cell phone he had taken out of his pocket."Got it." He started leaving.  
"Where are you going?" I asked.  
"Where I go every night," he said with a ferocious grin. "Hunting." Seeing my look, he shut me down immediately. "You're not coming. You've barely been training for a week. You don't have enough control." I grumpily let him go, Rylan standing beside me.  
"You're going to follow him, aren't you?" he asked.  
"You bet ya," I responded.  
"Well, you're not leaving me behind," he said excitedly.  
"Let's go."


	4. Chapter 4

John the Demon Slayer  
Book 1  
Part 4

Rylan and I followed John into the city. It wasn't easy, I can tell you that. It wasn't like he was trying to lose them, but Rylan wasn't a experienced driver and John was. John stopped his car behind a rundown building in the ghetto area around the Strip. They followed him through a few streets, but John went through a section of shadow and just disappeared.  
"What was that!" whispered Rylan. "He never said he could disappear!"  
"Calm down!" I whispered back. "Lets just take a look around."  
So we took a look around, and found the doors of a warehouse unlocked. Together we decided to take a look inside. Inside the warehouse was dark and damp. It had an oppressive feeling, as if some malevolent entity was watching. It smelled of mold and rot, and looked as if it hadn't been used in a long time. As I was looking around, I began to hear the murmur of voices.  
I motioned Rylan over. "Do you hear that?" I asked.  
"Yah," he replied. "Let's go check it out!"  
"What?" I asked. "We don't know who -or what- it is! It could be dangerous!"  
"This coming from the guy who came out here to hunt monsters," he mocked. "Come on. We'll be all stealthy-like."  
So, against my better judgment, I followed him to find out who -or what- the voices came from. As we crept closer, we began to hear their words.  
"We must mount a aggressive offensive!" one particularly loud voice declared. "The training camp is just outside the city. If we strike now, we can eliminate a source of reinforcements as well as make it nearly impossible to mount an offensive on our holdings."  
"That training ground has been around for years," another voice said, this one quieter and much more authoritative. "I have studied it's wards myself. Assaulting the training ground would be like assaulting a fortress, and bring the entire Council on our heads. They knew what they were getting into when they pit a Warden training ground right outside White Court territory."  
"We can't just let them train more troops right at our front door!" another one said. "What happens when those troops are finished training? Then we'll have an army at our doorstep!"  
"What about the Demon Slayer?" another one asked, this one slightly timid. "Should we not concentrate our efforts on eliminating him?"  
"The Demon Slayer?" the loudmouthed one mocked. "Superstitious nonsense! The boogeyman of the supernatural world."  
"The steady stream of disintegrated minions would disagree with you on that point," the authoritative one said. "Besides, a creature as similar to a boogeyman as yourself should know better than to call anything "superstition". The question is not whether the Demon Slayer exists, but what it is. You cannot defeat an enemy if you do not know its weaknesses."  
Rylan and I had finally gotten close enough to see who the voices belonged to. One was large, nearly John's height, with grey skin, a bald head, and red eyes. He was wearing a black suit and tie. Actually, they all wore suits and ties. One particularly angry looking one with slicked back black hair, pale skin, and unnatural black eyes wore a black suit with a red dress shirt, while a much more composed individual with white hair, strange grey eyes, and I feel weird saying it, but a very handsome, almost beautiful face, wore a white suit and tie with a black dress shirt. Those three were the ones that stood out the most.  
"The Demon Slayer has no weaknesses," came that same timid voice, coming from a mouse-like man in the back. "He is a shadow in the night, the soldier of the dawn, the man that the monsters fear."  
"You just called him a man," pointed out the man in the red suit. "If he is indeed a man, then he has many weaknesses, as all men do."  
"It's simple," the large grey man grunted. "Find him, smash him, done."  
"The man in the red suit made a disgusted noise. "Why Mab ever put you in charge of her court in Vegas I will never understand. You have the intelligence of a boulder and the face of one to boot."  
"Watch yourself, bloodsucker," the grey man said, appearing to get larger. "My intelligence is not in question. If this Slayer is indeed a man, then he is made of flesh and bone, and thus can easily be crushed."  
"If you two are done arguing," the man in white said calmly. "It appears we have a couple of eavesdroppers."  
Shocked, me and Rylan turned around to run, only to see two very large, grey skinned men much like the one at the meeting. We tried to run, but they just picked us up like we were a couple of dolls. Rylan tried to reach into his pocket, where the magical pen was located, but his arms were strapped to his side. I tried to force the creature's arms open, for I was now sure they were not human, but either my powers weren't working, or the thing was just that strong.  
"Now what do we have here?" the man in white asked. "What are two high school students doing in this part of town, eavesdropping on our meeting?"  
"We didn't here anything!" Rylan exclaimed. "We were just leaving."  
"Oh, I think not," the man said. "You've only just arrived. Please join us."  
Furious at this guy for toying which us, I dis something incredibly stupid. I spat in his face. His head went back as if he had been slapped. Wiping the spit of his face, he turned his face back to me, his eyes now a frightening silver.  
"I like this one," said the red suited man who the grey man had indicated was a vampire. The black in his eyes seemed to be spreading, filling his entire eyes with inky blackness.  
I started shaking in fear, surrounded by monsters, my friend and I both rendered helpless, about to be eaten, or worse. The shaking got worse, and I felt my power rising up unbidden, filling my body, making me shake even more, convulsions wracking my body. The creatures took a step back, wary of this development. When my body could not take it anymore, my power surged out of me, sending everything within twenty feet flying into the air.  
Finding myself suddenly free and laying on the ground, I tried to stand, only to be struck by sudden dizziness and exhaustion. Looking around, I saw all the windows were shattered, numerous wooden barrels and crates were now nothing more than driftwood, and monsters were sprawled all over the room. I started dragging myself toward the opening, only to be stopped by a thing from nightmare. Dressed in the remains of a red suit, the creature was very much like the one that attacked me the first night, with leathery skin and bat-like features, only it was far more terrible.  
"You will pay for that, whelp!" the creature exclaimed in a raspy screech. Just as he was about to lick me with that narcotic tongue, there was a flash of light, and I was suddenly on the ground again, this time covered with a pile of ashes.  
Standing there at the exit was John, staff shining in the darkness, trench coat flapping in the wind. I had to admit, he was much more impressive without vampire saliva obscuring my view. Pure white fire shot out of his outstretched hand, disintegrating two of the large grey skinned men. All the remaining creatures started running, except for the first of the grey men, the one from the meeting, and the mouse man.  
"It's the Demon Slayer!" the mouse man exclaimed, orbs of green fire appearing in his hands.  
"I will enjoy crushing him!" the grey man shouted, rushing at John.  
John used his staff as a pole and leaped over the charging man. Looking toward the ceiling, he lifted his staff and called out a word that seemed to shake the building's foundations, but left my mind as soon as I heard it. Lightning came through the ceiling, leaving a massive hole, and struck John's staff. The staff was now full of electricity, lightning crackling along it's length.  
John turned to the grey man with a grin on his face.  
"Stupid ogre," he laughed. "You cannot defeat the divine!" Reaching out with his hand, the electricity went out of the staff, through his body, and out of his outstretched hand. The lightning stuck the ogre, gripping him in seizures. Then, to my shock, the ogre started struggling against the current of electricity towards John. John concentrated, and the lightning came out even stronger, sending the ogre flying, exploding into chips of stone and dust as it hit the far wall.  
I turned back to the mouse man, and saw that the small orbs of green flame had grown into a single, massive fireball, aimed right at John's back. "John, watch out!" I shouted, just as the mouse man released the fireball. John crouched down before the fireball, staff before him. The flame struck, and I cried out as the mouse man exclaimed in joy.  
Just then, the smoke cleared, and John was still crouching there, a sphere of golden light surrounding him. He stood up, the sphere vanishing. "Been a while since I've seen a warlock in this city," John said, walking toward the now cowering man. "You should never have come." His staff began to glow, and the man tried to run, far too late. John shot a blast of light at him, knocking him down. John's staff began to glow again, and the man started writhing as the light surrounded him. A bloodcurdling scream was torn out of his throat as a sickly green energy came out of his mouth, flying out before going into the earth. The man's eyes closed, and he was still.  
"Did you kill him?" I asked.  
"No," answered John. "I did something worse, for one such as him. I stripped him of his power. No longer will he be able to use magic for his own terrible ends."  
Looking around the room, I realised something. "John," I asked "where's Rylan?"  
A look of shock appeared on John's face. He looked around the building, but there was no sign of him. "Oh crap," John said. I had to agree with him.


	5. Chapter 5

John the Demon Slayer  
Book 1  
Part 5

I paced around the living room back at John's house, trying to think of something to do, some way to rescue Rylan. Looking at John, I saw that he was sitting cross-legged on the floor, meditating or something. His glasses were off for the first time I could remember, but his eyes were closed tight.  
"How can you meditate when those monsters have Rylan locked up somewhere, or worse, they ate him and dumped his bones somewhere! We have to save him, or something!"  
"I'm doing what I can," John replied without opening his eyes. "My 'meditating' is, or was, the way I was locating him."  
He got up, putting his sunglasses back on. "When you learn the language of the earth, you can learn many things from it. I have ascertained the location of our friend." He looked around the sparsely, yet comfortably decorated room with it's walls covered with bookshelves, a worry line crinkling his otherwise ageless face.  
"Well, where is he?" I asked, ready to bolt to the car.  
"Rylan is in a place I hoped neither of you would ever have to see," John said. "The UnderStrip."

"What's the UnderStrip?" I asked, unable to help myself.  
"This city has a system of flood drains, creating a massive network of streets underneath our own," John began, going with the long explanation. I sighed inwardly. "These streets are filled with the homeless and the criminal. At least, at the parts nearest the surface. The deeper you go, the more dangerous it gets. There are the serial killers and the criminally insane. But these lightless tunnels were soon realised for what they are; the perfect place for the creatures of the night to take residence. Now, the darkest sections are known as the UnderStrip, where creatures of all kinds have holed up, creating portals to their homes in the Nevernever. It is the most dangerous and deadly part of the city, and it's where I must go."  
In a flash of inspiration, I did my best Gimli impression. "Certainty of death, small chance of success... Well, what are we waiting for?"  
John looked at me weird, not getting the quote. I don't think that guy has watched a single movie! "No," John said firmly. "You are not coming. It was you following me that caused this problem in the first place. This is far too dangerous."  
"What?!" I exclaimed. "Rylan is my friend! I can help you!"  
"Listen," John said. "When you two kids entered that warehouse, you landed smack dab in the middle of a war. Last October some idiot wizard decided to break the peace between the White Council of Wizards and the Red Court of Vampires."  
"Wait," I said, thinking, "White Council? Wizards? Why did you never tell me about this before? It sounds awesome!"  
"However much I like the help," John continued, ignoring my outburst, "the war put the whole supernatural world on high alert. Before the war, I hunted vampires, demons, and warlocks across the country. But with the war, things got dicy, so I came here, to an old house my father built. It needed sprucing up, but Im settled here until the war is over and I can go back to hunting. Hopefully you and your friend will find some sense by then. Back to the point, the UnderStrip is too dangerous in regular circumstances, much less during a supernatural war! You are not coming, and that is final." John got up, gathered his "hunting" gear, and walked out the door.  
I stood there, watching him walk off. I was still for a bit, then started grabbing my stuff. "You are such an idiot," I told myself as I went after him.


	6. Goodbye

I am sorry for not writing in recent months, but my iPhone, which I was using to write my stories, malfunctioned, and I had to reset it, erasing my stories. I have decided, that instead of continuing to write fanfiction, I will focus on my full length novel. If you see anything by Jonathan Kruyer in a book store within the next few years, that's mine. Hopefully I will come back and finish my work here, but in case I don't, good bye and good reading!


End file.
